


Wrong Answer

by Invida



Category: Veronica Mars (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-04
Updated: 2014-12-04
Packaged: 2018-02-28 04:47:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2719250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Invida/pseuds/Invida
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Where the game is made up and the points don't matter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wrong Answer

**Author's Note:**

> **Spoilers** : _Ruskie Business_ , but assumes flashbacks in _Betty And Veronica_ have already happened  
>  **Characters** : Logan, Veronica  
>  **Rating** : PG-13, but if you're over 13 and you're still shocked by the F-word, then it's R  
>  **Disclaimer** : I know the law, and the law would win.  
>  **Note** : Originally posted elsewhere in Nov 2005.
> 
>  **Summary** : "Ask anything you want, and I won't answer."  
> 

The sea was angry that day, my friends," Logan muttered to the grey expanse of sky and water. He sat in the clammy sand, elbows on knees, staring out to sea, mesmerized by the crashing waves. He pulled his jacket zipper up as far as it would go and tried to ignore the dampness that was seeping into his clothing.

"So this is where you've been hiding!" a cheery voice exclaimed, interrupting his calm.

He looked up behind him to see Veronica looking pleased as punch at her find. She was wearing a wool coat with a hoodie peaking out underneath. Her hair was tied up under a nondescript baseball cap. He wouldn't have recognized her if she had just kept walking, and she probably would have passed right by him, if she hadn't heard him muttering.

"Shit," he said under his breath.

She plopped herself down beside him, and clapped a hand on his back. "Oh come on now! You're not happy to see me?"

He shook her hand off. "Gee, Veronica, why don't you pull up some sand and have a seat?" He asked sardonically, gesturing with a grand sweep of his hand at the spot where she already sat.

"Done and done! Thanks!" she said with exaggerated joy and moved herself into a cross-legged position.

Annoyance and impulsiveness overtook him before he could stop spitefulness from spilling out his mouth. "I'm sorry, what I meant to say was, 'What the fuck do you want?' but my Babel fish obviously doesn't translate English-to-Trashistan."

"And here I was thinking we'd got past your pompous blustering and jackassery."

She didn't look hurt, but he regretfully admitted to himself that she was right. She didn't deserve the snide comments that were just waiting at the tip of his tongue for no other reason than habit. But that didn't mean he was about to admit it to her.

"You sat down uninvited. Deal." Then he turned to face her and asked incredulously, "Jackassery?"

"It's a word. Webster's is adding it, honest," she said, holding three fingers up in a Scout’s salute.

"Whatever. You haven’t answered the question, Veronica. What are you doing here? Don't you have class now?"

"Don't you? You haven't been at school since 'Total Eclipse'. Nice to see you've found some pants, by the way."

"Nice to see you've stopped desperately seeking Susan," he retorted.

"I'm surprised you remember that."

He dismissively flicked his hand in the air. "I've been drunker than that."

"I know. I've been a witness," she said. "So like I was saying, you haven't been at school since your _little_ display."

He eyed her suspiciously, and decided he knew what she was getting at. "Relax. You'll get paid."

She looked affronted. "That's not what I was worried about."

"So are you fretting about my GPA or whether I'll show up pantsless again?"

"Well, _now_ I'm a little worried about the pantsless thing."

"Worried you won't be able to control yourself?"

"Mmm. Yeah. I'd be all over that action," she said sarcastically, "In fact --" She reached down and tugged at the cuff of his pant leg. Her fingertips grazed his ankle, and even though he couldn't feel her touch through his sock, it was enough that he could sense her fingers there and the sensation of being tickled overpowered him. He flinched.

"Hey! Get your hands off me!" He tried pushing her hand away.

Veronica giggled, released her grip on his clothing and sat back. "I forgot how ticklish you are."

He pointed at her emphatically. "Watch it, Veronica. I remember exactly how ticklish you are."

She held her hands up in surrender. "Duly warned."

"So are you gonna tell me why my not being at school is so important to you?

"Besides the fact that instead you're sitting here alone on the beach, in March between rain storms, staring at the ocean, in the middle of a school day, muttering pop culture quotes to yourself - what was it? Seinfeld? - and you haven't been seen by friend or foe in days? I guess it's not important at all."

"Why, Miss Veronica, are you sayin' you're worried 'bout li'l ol' me?" He held up his hand, fanning himself and batting his eyelashes at her.

She gave him a small shove in the upper arm as her reply.

He laughed and asked, "So why are you following me? Is there a bounty on my head?"

"Not yet. It's just a coincidence, really. I had some 'bidness' down here, but I honestly didn't expect to see you here."

"The PI biz is just that lucrative that you're skipping classes now, Veronica?"

She rolled her eyes. "Don't worry about my attendance record. My ass is covered in that respect. Is yours?"

"So you've got a thing for my ass now?"

"You mean kicking it? Yep, got a bit of a fixation there."

"Cute. If you're asking whether my remaining parental unit and the appropriate authorities know that I'm not in school, you can stop worrying. They know."

He hoped that was enough, but she just looked back at him expectantly, so he continued, knowing that eventually she'd get what she wanted out of him. "It became apparent to dear old Pop that I needed some more time to sort out my shit. It actually helped my case that Trina told him what happened at the hotel and the dance. Who knew that she could actually serve a purpose other than being a sidebar in the gossip rags?"

"So what are you doing down here?"

"Not looking for my mother. That's what you're wondering, aren't you? If I'm still delusional?"

"I never thought that," she said quietly, all hint of jest gone.

He looked at her and found her demeanour had changed suddenly from teasing to sombre, but he couldn't stop himself from his current course of conversation. "Admit it, Veronica, at first, you did. You only agreed to help me to get the lunatic out of your apartment."

She looked at him seriously. "I agreed to help you because you asked and you were honest."

He stared hard at her, then he shook his head. "Well, what did you have to go and do that for? We had a perfectly good belligerent repartee going and you had to go and ruin it by being all _nice_." He spat out the last word with distaste. He turned back and watched the waves.

"Not to offend your sensibilities any further, but would it be too nice of me to ask you how you've been?"

He shrugged. "I'm not going to say I can't complain because I can."

"Is time off helping?" she asked sceptically.

"Time off _alone_ was helping."

"Which is why you're here?"

"I always thought you were swifter at catching drifts, Veronica. Go away."

She didn't make a move, but instead she asked wearily. "You really want me to go?"

"Yeah. Vamoose." He shooed his hand at her.

"Well, here's another pop culture line for you. See if you can guess where it's from," she said as she stood, dusted herself off, and slung her bag over her shoulder. "Smell ya later."

She passed behind him and walked off down the beach. He tried not to watch her leave, but he stole a glance, and was overwhelmed by a bewildering anxiety at the sight of her walking away.

He quickly pulled out his phone before she got too far away and punched her number. He still wasn't used to seeing her name again on his phone. He often stopped at her entry in surprise when he scrolled through his speed dial.

He stood up and watched as she stopped her retreat from him to feel through her bag for her phone. She still had her back to him, but he knew she must have seen who was calling her by now. Her phone kept ringing and he was wondering if she was just going to let go to voicemail and leave him standing there foolishly staring after her.

He heard the ringing stop as she turned towards him, putting the phone to her ear.

"Yeah?" she asked impatiently.

"It was from The Simpsons. You disappoint me, Veronica. I thought you'd put up more of a fight." He started to walk in her direction.

"Maybe I'm just tired of fighting," she said, turning to him.

"It's what we do best though, isn't it?"

"Even the best diversions can become boring with overindulgence."

"I've got plenty of adjectives for you, Veronica," he said as he reached her, "but 'boring' isn't one of them." He flipped his phone shut, and shoved it back in his pocket.

She shut her phone as well, depositing it back in her bag. He walked past her continuing in the direction that she had been going. She called after him, "Did you want something?"

He turned, continuing his walk backwards and replied, "Not really." Then he raised his eyebrows at her in an unspoken invitation.

"Yeah. That's what I thought," she said. She began to follow him. When she caught up, he turned back and they walked together.

He clapped his hands and rubbed together them in exaggerated anticipation. "So whose turn is it to ask a question and whose turn is it to avoid answering?" he asked.

"Oh, so this is a game now?" she asked. He just shrugged in reply. She said, "I believe I asked how you were and you said something non-committal. Then you did your Garbo impression."

"Well, I guess for that, I'll give you a freebie. Ask anything you want, and I won't answer."

"Uh-huh. How are you?"

He made a noise like a buzzer at her question. "Repetition. No points for you. My turn. Why'd you even stop to chat with me today?"

"To ask how you were. Do I get to see the rules to this game or is this all at your whim?"

"Jeez Veronica, you could add a little more pizzazz to your questions. Rules are for people who need them. It's all made up and the points don't matter. My turn again."

"Great. Now you're Drew Carey."

"Well, I'm not Clive Anderson."

"Who?" she asked with confusion.

"You need a better cable package."

He shoved his hands into his pockets pulling his jacket a little tighter around him while he tried to decide what would infuriate her. He had so much material to choose from. "So you and the deputy, huh?"

He watched her eyes widen at him in astonishment, but she quickly recovered and asked, "Excuse me? Is that an actual question?"

"Sorry. You can't answer a question with a question. But I'll give you a break this time. Are you really seeing that cop?"

"His name is Leo. So you remember that too, huh?"

"I remember lots of things. Like Duncan," he paused emphatically, "and Meg." He watched her expression harden before he continued, "You've got to start asking better questions with your turns. And we're back to me."

He screwed up his face as if in deep contemplation before he finally asked the question he knew would piss her off. "Soooooooo, you okay with them, you know, together?"

This time, her eyes flashed with anger at him. He was sure she now regretted even approaching him today.

"Since when do you care? I thought you'd be revelling in this. Finally, Duncan is moving on from his trailer trash slut."

He put a finger to his mouth thoughtfully. "You know, to be fair, I've called you many things, but I've never called you a slut."

"I'm supposed to be fair to you? Funny thing is, I remember you calling me a 'ho' on at least one occasion."

"Refresh my memory."

"Your poker game."

"Riiiight!" he said, laughing at the memory. "But that was special. It was Christmas."

She looked unimpressed. "If I'm your Secret Santa this year, expect a new book of insults."

He laughed and continued, "You think I don't remember who you are, Veronica? A lot of shit's happened in the last year, but you haven't changed that much. Poorer, yes. Obsessed with Duncan, yes. But from Sweet, Innocent, Virginal Veronica Mars to your doozy of a skank reputation? Please. And for what it's worth, I'm not the one that spread that little nugget around."

"How fucking noble of you! Even if I believed you, you also never stopped it either, so it's not worth very much at all, thank you very much."

He shrugged. "Never said I wasn't a bastard. And you didn't answer my question. You're getting better at this."

"I never said I was playing. Just what do you care about what I think of them anyway?"

"I don't. I'm just looking out for Duncan."

She stopped walking abruptly. She was yelling at him before he even turned to face her. "Duncan isn't too concerned about whether I'm okay with it or not, so why the hell should you be? He and I are over and have been for like a year and a half. Got it? I know that. So stop harassing me every day about how I'm still harbouring some Sweet Valley High crush on him. All right?"

"Whatever you say, Veronica," he said with the smirk that he knew infuriated her.

"Fuck you. With the way you go on about it, it sounds to me like you're the one who's not over it," she said, crossing her arms.

He pointed at himself. " _I'm_ not over you and Duncan breaking up? That's rich."

She walked up to him. "I don't know," she said, smiling with a renewed confidence, "I mean, I don't talk about it. Doesn't look to me like Duncan talks about it." She poked him in the chest and said, " _You_ are the only person who still talks about it."

She sidestepped him and walked passed him. He turned and stood for a second watching her walk away again, for once not able to think of a comeback. She paused, looked back still grinning from her small victory. He took that as a sign that he should follow.

When he caught up, unable to think of anything else, he asked, "And why the hell do you think I'm not over it?"

She shrugged. "Beats me. I figure it's some latent thing you have for Duncan." She laughed wickedly. "Seriously, how many points do I have now?"

"Yeah. You're gaining. But you still suck at the questions. You're passing up quite an opportunity here."

She opened her mouth to start to say something, but he interrupted her, "Uh-uh. It's my turn. You asked about your score."

"If I even knew what the hell we're playing here, I'd tell you you're not being fair."

"And I'd ignore you."

She stuck out her tongue at him. He said, "Just for that, no mercy." He made a dramatic pause then asked, "Was that really your wedding wish book that you brought to the hotel?"

"Oooh. Yeah, I'm just begging for mercy here."

"Well if it is yours, it certainly flies in the face of your denial of pining for Duncan."

"I never said it was about Duncan. In fact, other than Lilly, you're the only other person who's seen that book. So maybe you should ask yourself what that means."

"You're hilarious."

They reached a bench near the parking lot, and Veronica sat down. He didn't wait for an invitation to join her.

"Oh, admit it, you're secretly thrilled. But enough of that. Time for a real question."

"Do your worst." He leaned back and gave her a 'bring it on' gesture.

"Do you like Duncan with Meg?"

He clutched his chest mockingly. "You really know how to cut to the quick."

She frowned at him in annoyance. "Just answer the damn question."

"I guess I should just be delighted that you'd want my opinion on something instead of accusing me of whatever awful thing that's got your knickers in a knot this week. Fine. You wanna know what I think? I think she's sweet, and innocent, and virginal. He upgraded to a mommy-approved, boring version of you. Or at least who you used to be."

"So much for avoiding the question."

"Not much point. It wasn't about me."

"So you think they're perfect for each other."

"I never said that. I just said his mom thinks so."

"And really, that's all that matters when it comes to all things Kane. Mother's approval."

"Hey, don't forget, Celeste doesn't like me either. I don't think she's ever said one nice thing to me. She's a total bitch."

"And yet, she's the most normal mother any of us have got."

He'd never thought of Duncan's mother that way. Celeste had just been an obstacle in his friendship with Duncan and his relationship with Lilly. But now, thinking about it, Veronica was right. Celeste stuck it out in the face of the worst thing a mother could go through and kept her family together. Most families fell apart with the death of a child. Hell, even Veronica's family broke up indirectly because of Lilly's death. But not Celeste's. She was an icy witch to anyone who dared try to infiltrate her family, but maybe that was just her self-preservation. Logan's and Veronica's mothers used the bottle, and then leaving them. It weirded him out to think about how similar his and Veronica's situations were; or more accurately, it weirded him out that he took comfort from the fact that they had something in common.

Still, thinking of Celeste in a positive light was pretty strange for Veronica. "Where the hell did that come from?"

She took a deep breath and released it slowly, like she was contemplating her next words very carefully. "Found my mom."

Her reply threw him off guard. He watched her intently, trying to figure out her reason for telling him, but she didn't look back at him. It was her turn to look out at the waves and give nothing away.

Before he thought about it, he said, "Well, lucky you. Everything you dreamed of?" He wasn't sure if it was anger or disappointment that had crept into his voice. He suddenly didn't want to hear what she had to say anymore.

She answered him before he could change the subject. "Let's see. I cried, yelled, bargained, begged. It was like I was four years old, throwing a tantrum in the toy department all over again."

He was still reeling from her candour, but he noticed that there was a faint desperation in her voice that most people wouldn't notice if they didn't know Veronica and hadn't heard it before. And maybe he would never have noticed it either if he hadn't heard the same desperation in his own.

"So, not so Disney," he said, not quite as resentfully.

She shook her head with a bitter laugh. "Not unless they found Nemo at Betty Ford. Really though, how many kids get to say they put their mom in rehab?"

"Some families might consider that bonding." That comment earned him an expression that made him wish looks came with warning labels. "So what happens after she's done rehab?"

"Then she comes home."

He hadn't expected that at all. "It's just that simple? What does your dad think?"

"Nothing. He doesn't know."

He shook his head with disbelief. "Jesus, Veronica."

"I know what I'm doing," she said defiantly.

"If you say so."

"What does it matter to you?"

"It doesn't. You're just usually -- I don't know -- more cautious than that. It just sounds like you're setting yourself up."

"Thanks for your concern, but it's going to be fine."

"You sure about that? Is this what you really want?" Even though he and Veronica were hadn't been speaking at the time, Logan still heard the stories about Lianne Mars just before she left.

"What is so wrong with wanting my mother to come home?" she asked accusingly.

Nothing, he wanted to say, but he couldn't get the word out, and she turned away abruptly before any emotion could register and betray her. Any disappointment he felt with her no longer having the same situation as him left because he knew that if he could bring his mom home, he would in less than a heartbeat.

He put his hand on her shoulder and gently turned her towards him. When her angry, defiant eyes met his, it was a welcome sight compared to the tears he'd been expecting. He almost grinned at her, but he knew it would enrage her and if she looked this angry now, he didn't want to be on the receiving end of anything worse. Unfortunately, that notion struck him as even funnier and he did let out a laugh.

"What?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him suspiciously.

He dropped his hand from her shoulder. Knowing she wouldn't understand what he'd just been thinking, he changed the subject. "Hey, do you remember the last time you and I were out here?"

She looked at him incredulously. "Uh, yeah. Like six months ago. Remember? Smashed headlights? You want me to get all nostalgic about that?"

"Shit. No." He shook his head, angry with himself for not thinking this through. "That's not what I was talking about."

"Oh well, that's awesome because I still don't want your apology."

"And I'm still not offering you one!" he shot back, a little louder than he intended.

"So do you have a point? Or are you just asking random questions about your jackassery now as part of your stupid game?"

He waved his hand at her dismissively. "If you're gonna be so damn testy, just forget it."

"Excuse me that you weren't more specific," she snorted.

"God, Veronica, I meant the last time you and I were out here alone." He realized his voice was rising with frustration, and he tried to tone it down. "You remember now? We were out here waiting for Lilly and Duncan to show up one time. We must've waited like an hour." They'd been out waiting at the beach on a much nicer day, and in an effort to alleviate his boredom and her worry, he offered to teach her to skip stones. He wasn't even sure why he was trying to get her to remember something insignificant that had happened over a year and a half ago. It was just a relief not to think too hard about the shitty turn their lives had taken.

She didn't reply right away. "It was more like an hour and a half."

"See. I knew you remembered," he said with smug satisfaction.

"So? What about it?" she asked indifferently. He could see her impatience with this subject. She didn't look as angry, but he didn't want to head anywhere near that road again.

"Never mind." Maybe it was just too soon to try to be nostalgic with Veronica.

"Well, now who sucks at asking questions?"

He shook his head again. "So now you wanna play? Look, I said, just forget it." He turned away and looked out to the sea.

"So do you still throw like a girl?" she finally asked without looking at him.

He couldn't help a satisfied smirk that she had conceded and was actually going to participate in the conversation with him. "Please. I throw just fine. I just didn't expect you'd be such a freak and throw like a guy."

She shrugged. "When you're your dad's only child and you're a girl, you get all the hopes and dreams for both genders heaped on you," she said with no resentment. If anything, she sounded proud. Logan sometimes thought that if anyone should resent their father, Veronica maybe came second to him in having more than enough reasons. But no one would ever suspect it from the way Veronica stood by her dad through the worst that even Logan could dish out.

"Did you want a re-match?" she asked, nudging him with her elbow.

"Not on your life. I'm in no mood to re-enact 'Annie Get Your Gun'."

"Your knowledge of musicals is disturbing. What are you scared of?"

"Don't try that shit with me. You're not going to get me going here. And don't even start clucking like a chicken."

She stood up. "You're just lucky I have to get going or I'd beat the pants off ya." She started to walk towards her car, which he noticed was parked beside his SUV. He was beginning to suspect that her running into him wasn't the coincidence she made it out to be.

He stood up and walked with her. "As I've already drunkenly proven, I'll take my pants off for less than that."

She grinned as she got in her car. "You might not want to say that so loudly."

She shut the door, but she rolled down the window when he didn't move away from her car. He teased her. "C'mon Mars, I know you were checking me out."

"Yeah. You and Tom Cruise. You're like this." She held up crossed fingers. She started her car and started to back out. Before she pealed away, she leaned out her window and called to him. "Go to school, Logan. Learn something."


End file.
